


sihae | 爱情接力 (you and me)

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Category: Super Junior
Genre: AU, Fluff, Gen, always fluff, always for poorvs, for once, for poorvs, sihae - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 01:04:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15984281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: They're looking up at the stars, and Donghae asks, "You won't forget me when we go back to Seoul, will you?"





	sihae | 爱情接力 (you and me)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [andcntes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/andcntes/gifts).



Siwon has never seen stars shine so brightly. One doesn’t often see stars in Seoul, after all. The bright lights of the city pollute the night sky far too much for any celestial beings to be seen apart from the sun and moon. But out here in the country, there are few lights to taint the dazzling display up above. When the sky had first started to darken, Siwon had tried to count each star he saw until he lost count. 

“It’s like the story in the Bible, Siwonnie,” Donghae says. “Where God tells Abraham his descendants will outnumber the stars.”

And now, as the two of them are staring out of the flap of their tent for the weekend at the night sky, Siwon understands the magnitude of that statement.

“Amazing,” Siwon says, “Absolutely amazing.”

This weekend had been filled with amazing things already, and this feels like the icing on the cake. The two of them had driven down to the country after their university graduation ceremony the night before to celebrate their last free weekend before joining the ranks of the working world. They’d spent the day swimming in the river before drying out on the shore and pitching their tent. They’d set up makeshift fishing poles in an attempt to catch something for dinner but had ended up fishing out some protein bars and trail mix out of their backpacks instead. 

Siwon had never felt so free. He’d never gotten to go camping as a kid. It hadn’t been something that his family had ever done. Their vacations had been more exotic and significantly more expensive. Yet he’d spent the last four years of university listen to Donghae tell stories about going camping with his father and brother as a kid and had proposed the trip to finally experience the magic that he’d heard so much about.

And it had been magical: the feel of the sun on his face, the wind rustling through his hair, the sand scrunching between his toes. 

Yet the best, the best had been watching Donghae in his element. Siwon had watched Donghae expertly guide them to the best campsite, helped Donghae set up the tent in record time, and listened as Donghae explained the intricacies of exactly why they weren’t catching any fish. Donghae had come alive on this trip, eyes shining and voice filled with a certain confidence Siwon hadn’t heard before. 

“Now you know why I like it out here,” Donghae says, his voice soft.

“Mmhmm,” Siwon says in agreement.

“Sometimes, I can’t believe that I’m actually staying in Seoul after graduation,” Donghae says.

Siwon tears his eyes away from the sky and turns to look at Donghae. He’s pensive, his head propped up on one hand. “What do you mean? I thought you wanted to stay in Seoul?”

“I do, I do, it’s just--” he takes a deep breath. “I guess I thought that after four years, Seoul would start to feel more like home to me, but I still feel like I don’t belong.”

“How so?”

Donghae shrugs. “Most days it’s fine, I suppose, but then something will happen that will remind me that I’m still that country boy trying to make his way in the big city. Like when I’m frustrated about something, and my dialect slips out without me realizing. Or like when we were looking for jobs, and everyone told me to use my connections except I didn’t have any in the city. Or…” he pauses to even his breathing again, “or when everyone else goes home for Chuseok to spend time with their parents but I don’t have nearly enough time to go back to Mokpo to visit Dad’s grave with Mom and Donghwa.”

Siwon remembers their first year of university when he and Donghae had been the only two on their dormitory floor who hadn’t left for Chuseok. Siwon’s parents had been out of the country on business and his sister had been staying with friends, so it hadn’t made sense for him to go home. Siwon had assumed he’d have the floor to himself to read, listen to worship music at absurdly high volumes, and to use the television in the lounge to watch movies. Yet he’d found Donghae slinking back into their shared room, looking startled to find that Siwon hadn’t left for the weekend like everyone else.

_ “What are you doing here?” _ Donghae had asked.

_ “I’m staying for the weekend,” _ Siwon had said, briefly explaining why he wasn’t going home.

That weekend had been the start of a beautiful friendship as they finally had time to understand each other more. They’d been roommates for nearly two months but hadn’t had time to get to know each other in between orientation and classes and fall activities. They’d spent the weekend watching movies and talking about their families and running down to the convenience store for instant ramen after burning theirs in the microwave too many times. 

They’d become fast friends after that and had roomed together ever since, first in the student dormitories and then in an apartment off-campus. Siwon had easily adapted to university; after all, it was only a few metro stops away from where he had grown up. But Donghae had always been a little different from the others, and that’s what Siwon had liked most about him: his simple, down-to-earth persona and his warm, genuine heart. 

“And maybe it just needs more time,” Donghae is saying. “Or maybe, maybe Seoul will never feel like home for me.”

Siwon grimaces. He’s lived in the same city his entire life. How can he relate to moving all the way across the country, first for university and now for potentially the rest of his life?

“Then I guess we’ll just have to come back here more often then,” he says softly.

The corners of Donghae’s mouth twitch into a smile, and he turns to look at Siwon. “Even after your wasp sting from earlier?”

Siwon makes a face. He had indeed had a run-in with a wasp by the river earlier, some misunderstanding about Siwon accidentally poking its nest in an attempt to find berries. Donghae had made him a cold compress after removing the stinger with tweezers, but his arm still throbs a bit even hours later. But he still manages to say, “For you, Lee Donghae, I’d battle a thousand wasps.”

Donghae swats at his good arm, and Siwon scoots closer to trap his flailing arm with his own. Donghae fights back, and soon they’re tumbling around the tent, wrestling like little kids. They’re giggling themselves into hysterics, and Siwon is glad they’re in the middle of nowhere with no RA, no flatmates, and no annoying building supervisors to tell them to keep it down.

They run out of steam and flop down on the floor of the tent, trying to catch their breath. Siwon looks over at Donghae and can’t help but smile. He’s in the middle of nowhere with his best friend in the entire world, and everything feels so right.

“You won’t forget me when we go back to Seoul, will you?” Donghae asks all of a sudden.

“Forget you? Forget  _ you _ ?” Siwon asks, letting out a loud guffaw.

“Don’t laugh!” Donghae protests. “It’s a serious question!”

“How could I forget you?” Siwon replies, reaching out to tousle Donghae’s hair.

“I mean… You’ll get busy with your fancy corporate job and I’ll get busy working in the photographer’s studio and we’ll plan dinners but will have to cancel because our schedules never align and then suddenly thirty years will have gone by and you’ll think ‘Huh, Donghae, isn’t that the East Sea?’ and you’ll have forgotten about me completely.”

Donghae turns away, unable to even look him in the eye, and at that moment, Siwon’s heart breaks into millions of pieces.

“Hey,” he says softly. He reaches out for Donghae’s arm and tugs him closer. He taps Donghae’s chin so he turns to look up at him, and then he says, “I’m never going to forget you, Lee Donghae. You made too deep an impression in my life to ever forget you.”

Donghae tries to shrug him off, but Siwon remains firm. “I mean it,” he continues. “Even if you get busy becoming a world-famous photographer while I’m drowning in boring paperwork, I’ll always remember that you were, and always will be, my very best friend.”

Donghae sniffles, and Siwon knows that he’s about to cry. So he gently puts his arm around Donghae’s shoulders and pulls him into a hug. Donghae buries his face in Siwon’s chest, and Siwon feels tears dampen his t-shirt.

“I’d never have survived Seoul without you,” Donghae says, his voice muffled.

Siwon hugs him close. “I’ll try my best to make Seoul feel like home for you,” he says. And he means every word.

By the time Donghae’s tears subside, Siwon has shed a few of his own. They blow their noses on tissues that Siwon had been wise to bring (“I am  _ not _ wiping any part of myself with a leaf,” he had informed Donghae before the trip as he’d packed biodegradable tissue in his bag). The night air has grown cold, and they zip up their tent to ward off the outer chill. They fall asleep nestled under their thermal blankets, Donghae nestled against Siwon’s side.

Siwon worries about the future too: about disappointing his parents, about finding his own place in the world, and about who will still be in his life twenty, thirty, forty years down the road. But for now, as he falls asleep with Donghae warm against his side, he thinks that maybe the future might not be so bad if they set out to conquer Seoul together.

That’s what they had promised they would do their freshman year of university, and four years later, they’re still on that same mission.

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love ♡
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/plincess_cho) / [tumblr](http://plincess-cho.tumblr.com/)


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